Finding Fear
by Aurora Blackwood
Summary: And by Asharza. It was a cold fall night when the Ares cabin was attack. Phobos and Deimos are missing and they were last seen that night. Now, Clarisse has to find them and unravel what really happend. The fate of the world is in her hands. (Written at 14) Not sure if I am going to finish this honestly.
1. Chapter 1

That night, that cold fall night, is the night that it all started for me. I was drilling my cabin on military marches and insisted that we keep at it so that we did not look like sloppy pigs. We went on all through dinner, but we didn't mind. War was our calling, we were children of war, we were made to fight, and with fighting comes marching. "Marching," I explain to them, "is a uniformed way to travel through battle." They seemed to be getting it, at least they didn't respond, that was a good sign.

We were marching back to our cabin when I spotted two red glowing eyes in the darkness. I sighed; I knew who was behind them. "Halt!" I shouted to my cabin mates. I turned towards a tall light skinned boy with brown hair all matted on top of his head, "Drew," I said to my second in command, "Lead them back to the cabin; I have other matters to attend to."

"Yes ma'am," he saluted me, I saluted him back. He turned back to the others, "Company march!" he shouted. They immediately started marching. I studied them, as they left, not perfect yet, but much much better.

I turned back to where I saw the two eyes. I stood taller than I did before; I was going to show him I was not afraid of him. "Alright Phobos," I said, to my dismay, my voice shook a little, "What do you want?"

I heard sticks cracking as he came through the dark trees of an eerie forest. His eyes sent a shiver down my spine, and even though he wasn't trying to scare me, I was trembling. A sly smile crawled up on his face.

"Well, well," he mused, "Isn't it little miss big shot Clarisse, leader of the Ares cabin? And if you don't mind me asking, where's your boyfriend?" My eyes narrowed. I grabbed onto the sides of my shirt, just trying to control my anger.

"Percy's not my boyfriend," I said in between gritted teeth, "he's not even my friend." Phobos shook his head and made a 'tsk tsk' sound. His wild curls bounced across his forehead. His eyes almost seemed to get brighter with glee.

"What a shame," he said, "though I wasn't talking about that little daddy's boy." He looked at me and gave me a sympathetic grin, "looks like my dear mother has some things in store for you Clarisse. I wouldn't be scared though. Who knows? After tonight he probably wouldn't want to date anyways. But I've just said too much."

I decided to ignore his comment; he was just toying with my mind. "What do you want?" I ask again. I tried to keep my voice slow and steady. Phobos lifted his head up and chuckled. He looked back down at me.

"It's payback time," he said in a tone of pure malice, "Deimos and I are going to do something so horrible to you and your cabin mates, you'll never forget it." And as if on cue, I heard a bone-chilling scream in the background. I knew it had to be one of my siblings. I swiftly whirled around wanting to call for them. But I felt a strong grip pull me back. "You are not going anywhere!" He growled, "It's payback time, and when I'm done with you-" He paused thinking for a second. "Let's just say, you're going to wish you and that little punk never crossed me."

I was trying very hard to hide my panic. I fought Deimos before. How different could Phobos be? But in the back of my head I knew the answer to that all to well.

"Alright, how about this? If you really want to fight me then at least give me a sword." I said, struggling to remain calm.

Phobos seamed to think about it for a second, "No," He grinned cruelly, "You see Clarisse, if I give you a sword, and then I would have to play fair with every other little punk that crosses me." He paused looking passed me. Almost instantly his expression of what was once glee, to confusion.

Without thinking about it a turned to see what he was looking at. But nothing was there it was just dark forest.

"What the--?" He turned back to me, he cursed under his breath, "Looks like your siblings are in a slight rut," he mumbled but I wasn't sure he was talking to me. His eyes looked my direction, "Duty calls punk, but believe me I'm not finished and next time, will be worse." With that, he walked away.

Without even thinking I ran. I didn't even notice Phobos slip back into the darkness watching me. I just ran to where I heard the screams, it didn't matter that he had left me unharmed- well maybe a little. But I needed to get to my siblings. I could just make out shapes in the darkness.

I saw my cabin mates struggling to keep the attackers off. Their swords gleamed in the pale moonlight. It was so dark. I couldn't get a good look at them from this far out. But they appeared to be wearing dark sweatshirts.

Under normal circumstances, my cabin could've kicked these people's butts, but they didn't have weapons at the time. We left all our weapons in the cabin. They were using any thing they could find. I could see sticks flying everywhere, punches being blown, but to no avail, they were losing. I finally got over to the scene looking everywhere not sure what to do.

I could make out Drew fighting against one of the dark figures only to fall down. I ran to help but it was too late, a cry broke out into the night as the figure stomped on Drew's leg. Running as fast as I could I smashed the man with my fist, he fell down on the ground. I didn't check to make sure he was finished.

But that was one man, there had to be at least a dozen cloaked figures. I looked around me seeing all sorts of horrific chaos. My siblings were falling down unable to get back up. I watched as Sherman punched a figure in the nose.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Morgan face down in the Earth. Her attacker was showing no mercy, he was still on top of her, beating her.

My anger had boiled over. I jump at him and knocked him over. I started pounding him with my fists, and like he did to Morgan, I showed no mercy. That was something I learned from father.

"Know your enemies well," he would always say, "but don't think of them as human. Think of them as monsters that are threatening your survival. Show them no mercy." I always listened to father; he always knew what to do.

I felt a crack against my skull. A dull achy pain spread across my head, I could feel it stinging. My eyes struggled to remain open. The world around me began to spin, falling to my knees; I could only hear the sounds of fists connecting with faces. And then nothing, the last sound I heard was the screams of my siblings. Then my world was black.

**I hope you guys like the story so far.... and in case you were wondering... it takes place after BOTL.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Clarisse wake up." I heard a familiar voice call to me in the darkness. Slowly my eyes fluttered open. I was met with two bright hazel eyes. They blinked, "Good your up, I'm going to get Chiron." He said hurriedly. He turned to leave but almost instantly whipped back around, "Are you ok?" He sounded worried.

"I-I think so," I said groggily. My head pounded into my skull causing an annoying throbbing pain. I tried to sit up. I was immediately met with a huge wave of dizziness. My world spun around me. I put my hand to my head and made soft groan. Chris Rodriguez knelt at my bed again. He lightly pushed me down.

"Rest," he said in a firm tone. He stood up again and looked down at me for a minute. He shook his head, "I'm going to get Chiron okay? Promise me not to get up?" I nodded as best as I could. He finally turned and left.

I looked around the room. My eyes were adjusting to the light, but I could make out Sherman sitting up in his bed with his arm in a sling, he looked at me and smiled. In the corner there was our newest member Bella, she had a pretty bad cut down her leg. Will Solace was trying to stitch it up.

"Stop!" She screamed, "You're hurting me!"

"Would you just hold still," he said, "I would've been finished by now if you didn't move!" In the back of the cabin I saw Mark laying flat on his back. He looked in pretty bad shape. Bandages surrounded his body. He was in a deep sleep; I was relived when he mumbled something about pie. I suddenly heard shouting from the left corner of the cabin.

"You can't get up," Michael Yew, head Apollo consoler, yelled. I turned my head to see what the commotion was all about. Drew was trying to stand up.

"I'm fine!" he argued as he tried to balance on one crutch. If it wasn't for Michael, he would've of fell straight to the ground.

"Drew," I said weakly, "it's okay you can rest." Drew looked at me and slowly began to lie back down on the bed. Michael mouthed the words 'thank you'.

I rested my head back down on the pillow. My head was still spinning. I was starting to close my eyes again, but they shot open when I heard Chiron's hooves clipping outside. He walked in followed by Chris and my father himself-- Ares, god of war. Bella's yelps came to a sudden halt; she sat staring wide eyed at the god who had just entered. Will just put his head down and stitched the cut back up, not paying attention to what was happening.

My father walked over to Sherman and studied him for a moment. Then he looked at the sleeping Mark then had his eyes fall on Drew. Drew tried to stand again, but was pulled back down by Michael. Father then shifted his eyes toward his daughter, Bella. Will had just finished sowing up her cut. He gathered his supplies and scurried out of the cabin.

Ares than turned his attention towards me, his eyes flaming an expression that I could not read. My cheeks became red. Emotions began to swell inside my body, embarrassment, guilt, sadness, and pain. There was one missing, fear. I feared my father for my whole life, but at the time, its absence left me even a little more worried. I was not afraid and yet, I had failed my father again, and I barley even remembered it.

"What happened?" I asked, addressing Chiron. I heard my father crack my knuckles.

"We don't really know, child." He responded.

"We were hoping you could clear it up for us, considering you're their leader." Ares sneered. His voice became louder. "I made you their leader! And you failed me."

I wasn't sure if he would hit me or not, but his expression was enough to send a towering guilt over me. All I could think was 'don't cry Clarisse'.

"Ares," Chiron said softly, "It's going to be alright. Your only kid in danger of dieing right now is Morgan. She's a strong one. She'll pull through her coma."

"You don't know that." Ares said in a hoarse voice that I had never heard before, "even if she does survive, I already lost two of my kids. The rest are in no condition to feel good about." Feeling a form of strength come over me I looked his way. He was watching Mark, who was now mumbling what sounded like 'Julie' whoever that was.

As if suddenly being bolted up from a deep sleep I realized what my father had just said, "Who? Who died?" I asked Chiron urgently, not sure if I was ready to hear the answer.

"John, and Carminda." Chiron said looking down sadly.

Sherman head whipped up shocked. A few tears fell down Bella's eyes. But Drew's reaction was the worst. He fell back down on his bed he was paralyzed for a few moments, just staring up at the bunk over him. I felt a sharp pang go through my body; then a little bit of numbness, all I could do now was stay strong for my other siblings.

When my grandmother died my mother said to me, 'There is nothing worse than loosing family. Especially close family.' She was crying when she said that. I didn't really pay attention to her; at that time I was a hyper six-year-old. When I heard their names, her words again echoed inside my mind. I couldn't believe they were dead.

"Alright now Clarisse, this might be hard, and you got a horrible bash on the head, and you just lost two siblings, but I need you to think back and tell me what you remember." Chiron told me.

I thought back trying to remember what happened but the only thing that came up was a snide voice, and a far off scream of terror that I knew was Carminda, I could recognize her voice anywhere.

"First tell me what you know. Tell me what you need to know." I commanded. All I had picked up was that there was a battle and my siblings were hurt. Chiron opened his mouth to say something but it was cut off by a purr of a woman's voice.

"Ares," it said, "any news?" A goddess stepped in. Her golden hair flowed right behind her as she walked. Sherman gasped at the moment he saw her. She looked at him for a second then her eyes managed into my direction. They sparkled in the faded light; they were beautiful sapphires shining in the darkness. But, they were red and puffed up, she must've been crying.

My father looked at her, "Aphrodite," he groaned, "I told you to stay on Mount Olympus." She walked over to him and put her arms around his neck. She looked at him for a moment, daring him to tell her to leave again. When he didn't say anything she continued.

"I know," she said, "but I needed to know what was happening." She paused. Her whole facial expression changed. She pushed him away, "You," she shrieked, "you, care about them," she indicated to us, "more than you our sons! I can't believe you!" She began to sob. Ares went over to her and tried to pull her closer, but she wouldn't let him. He finally grabbed her wrists and forced her into his arms. I tried hard not to roll my eyes at dad trying to calm his lover down. It was pathetic.

"Phobos and Deimos are going to be all right," he said softly, "they're immortal, they can take care of themselves." Her crying became muffled she let her arms slide across him again.

The mention of Phobos sent a jolt through my brain. I remembered him from the night before. What did he say? He and Deimos were going to pull a prank that my cabin and I would never forget. "I talked to Phobos last night." I blurted out. Every eye in the room turned to me. The silence filled the space.

Ares let go of Aphrodite and came over to me. He grabbed my hand. "What did he say?" Ares asked me. I looked into my father. His facial expression had changed, he hung onto hope, and right now he actually cared about what I had to say.

"He said," I began, "that he and Deimos were going to play a prank on me and my cabin mates, he said, we would never forget it and right after he said that, I heard Carminda scream." I looked away from my father; I didn't want him to see the tears I was crying.

Chiron finally broke the stunned silence, "Interesting," he said, "this note could be from them." I turned my head and saw Chiron holding a piece of paper.

Aphrodite came up to him, "Let me see it," she said ripping the paper out of his hands. I watch her eyes scan the paper as she read, she gasp and threw the paper at Chiron, "How dare you!" she shouted, "My sons are not traitors they did not join Kronos and the Titans." She started crying again.

Ares got up and started leading Aphrodite out of the cabin, but before he walked out he turned back to Chiron and said, "I'll be back." Then he turned his gaze onto me, "And you girl, you have a lot of explaining to do." Right after he said that, he exited the cabin.

Michael got up from Drew's bed, "I have to go," he said. I figured that he felt that he had just heard too much. He left in a hurry.

Chris went over to the side of my bed, by now I was sitting up. He touched my forehead, "Rest," he said.

I quickly shook him off, "I'm fine," I said.

"Clarisse you have to-"

I cut Chris off with a wave of a hand, "I'm fine," I told him again. I turned my attention back to Chiron, "What did the note say?" He picked the note up and handed it to me.

Despite my dyslexia, for some reason, I could read it just fine. It was as if some person wrote just for a demigod to read:

Dear whoever is on the god's side,  
We didn't just attack the Ares cabin cuz we felt like it, no it wasn't just a prank. It was to show power. Kronos is rising, becoming more powerful. Join now, and overthrow the gods. What have they done to earn your trust? Nothing! We urge you to join now. This is a matter that will decide the future, and be sure that Kronos and his armies will win. That is why we switched sides. Long Live the Titians!

I ran my hand down the paper. It could've been Phobos and Deimos, they were there last night. Plus, the note sounds like something they would write. But, could they do something like this? Turn their backs on their mother and father? I didn't think so. They were jerks but at least they were loyal jerks!

I must've had fallen into a dreamless sleep because when I saw things again, Chris and Chiron weren't there. I looked at the beds. Drew was sitting up looking bored, and Mark was still talking in his sleep. Sherman's and Bella's were empty.

I looked at Drew, "Where'd they go?" I asked drowsily.

"Michael and Will took them up for physical training, what did say? Oh yeah, they are going to begin 'The Road to Recovery.' How stupid is that!" Drew sighed, "They didn't even take me, they said I needed to go a few extra steps in the 'Road to Recovery'… what ever that means."

I nodded, even though that wasn't who I was talking about. I wanted to know where Chiron and Chris were.

Grabbing some clothes I went someplace private to change. Then I stumbled out of the cabin. Squinting my eyes trying to get used to the sunlight. I saw Bella and Sherman with the two Apollo campers. Michael was examining Sherman's broken arm. Will was making Bella stretch her bad leg. Each time she extended it, a look of pain came onto her face. I sighed and put my hand up to my head. It still hurt like crazy, but at least I was in better condition than the rest of my siblings.

I heard a gallop of hooves coming towards me, at first I thought it was my head pounding. But a voice woke me up from that fact, "Clarisse," It said, "Glad you're up."

I looked at the voice talking and saw Chiron, I groaned, the sun was hurting my eyes. Chiron frowned. "Your father wants to see you in the mess hall," he said, "But I'll tell him you are in a bad condition right now."

"No!" I shouted at Chiron. I didn't want to keep my father waiting, the longer he waits the madder he gets, and didn't see him even more furious than he was. "Tell him I'm coming right now."

Chiron looked at me, "Are you sure?" I nodded still clutching my head. He looked uneasy, but picked me up anyways and together we galloped off towards the mess hall.

**Okay, so we hope you liked this chapter..... please review and tell us what we can do better!;p**


	3. Chapter 3

I walked into the mess hall only to be met with the eyes of curious campers. I used to like attention. I'm not sure why. I guess it was because I thought if half the camp was paying attention to me then so was my father. Now the only reason people were watching me was because this is the first time the entire Ares cabin had been attacked, attacked and badly beaten. They looked at me is if I was the walking dead, which I probably did look like a dead person. I was the only camper of Ares that recovered fully, unless you were counting a few cuts and bruises. No doubt my hair was all tangled up on the back of my head. My eyes were all sunken in and my skin was paper white. But, they probably didn't care about that. Why should they? We hated them, and the feeling was very mutual.

I walked passed them looking for my father, he was alone sitting at our table, drinking red wine. He didn't even look up when I walked in. I was wondering if I should sit down. I stood there for a couple of seconds. He finally looked up, "Yes, you can sit down girl." He said gruffly. Walking over, I was trying to hide my apprehension.

A wood nymph placed a small plate of chicken nuggets and fries down next to me, "Can I get you anything Lord Ares?" She squeaked.

"No, I'm fine." He said, leaning back in his seat, and then with a flick of his wrist he said, "Scram."

I found myself picking at a nugget just for an excuse not to look at him. But he didn't say anything. It was all just uncomfortable silence. I could feel my father staring through me. His cold stare chilled me to the bone. It was like that for a good ten minutes. That is until he plucked some French fries off my plate. "Eat something." He told me, I slowly picked up a nugget and started half-heartedly nibbling it.

I heard giggling from somewhere. I jumped a little, startled. I looked up only to see the Aphrodite head counselor Silena-- I think, flirting with a group of boys. Beckendorf kept glancing over, his eyes glowed with jealousy. But when she looked at him, he turned away.

"So tell me kiddo. Where's everyone else?" Ares asked me. I snapped my head his way.

"They're recovering." I told him.

"You're probably wondering why I asked you to come here girl." He put his hand up to silence me before I could answer, "There is I slight problem. I normally wouldn't ask this of you but I need someone to do it."

"Do what?" I asked quietly.

"Phobos and Deimos are missing. I don't think they abandoned us, and I need you to track them down and figure out what happened."

I should have been grateful he was willing to trust me and gave me an important assignment, but instead I blurted out "Why me?"

He shrugged "Who knows? Maybe I decided to give you another chance. That's not likely though. The truth is we are a little short handed. And I would not trust any of Aphrodite's kids to go even if they, somehow, knew how to fight. It's not like you can be scared so I'm not too worried about you screwing it up."

I looked down at my meal, not knowing what to say. I knew I had to accept it. Why wouldn't I? It was another chance to prove myself. I looked back up again and met his cold gaze. "I'll go," I said. My father smiled and nodded in approval.

I looked down, not sure of what just happened. My father was actually proud of me! He was happy for I was about to do! My face turned a deep shade of red. I just stared the half eaten chicken nugget. That silence came again, making the situation worse. I was almost glad when I heard Aphrodite's voice – almost.

"Ares," it said, ringing through my mind, "I have an idea! I know how to get our sons back!"

Her voice had attracted attention everywhere. Guys were staring at her, their girlfriends trying to grab their interest back. That was just what we needed, another reason for people to stare, it's just so…. so….. _peachy_, if you know what I mean. I felt myself involuntarily crack my knuckles just like my dad did at the cabin.

"What is it, dear?" Ares said downing down the rest of his wine. The words sounded foreign for his tongue.

'Dear?' I mouthed to him, not even scared that he was going to be mad. He glared at me. I took that as a cue to be silent.

Aphrodite smiled; it lit up her whole face making it even more beautiful than she was before. She slide onto the bench next to my father. He put his arm around her.

"Oh Ares," she giggled, "It's brilliant, wait till you hear it!"

My father groaned he was getting annoyed, "Aphrodite, what is it?"

"Okay, okay," she said, "just listen."

"Listening," his voice had a dangerous edge to it, as if his temper would snap any second.

"Okay, so what if we had demigods go on a quest to find them?" she said that in one quick breath.

My father looked at me and winked, "So," he said, "who were you planning to assign this task to?"

"Silena and of course Clarisse, she looks like she's better. Are you honey?" She looked at me. I nodded, even though on the inside I was thinking 'honey'?

"It's a good plan," he said. There was a slight tone of humor in his voice, as if he was trying to hold back his laughter, "actually, Clarisse and I were talking about something like this." My eyes widened. He wanted me to go with that Aphrodite kid, even though before he said he wouldn't even dare send one of them out. He gave me another look that told me to keep quiet.

Aphrodite smiled and clapped her hands together, "Alrighy is settled then!" she said. Then she looked at her daughter, "Silena come over here."

When Silena heard her name roll of her mother's lips, she came right over. Her dark hair fell across her face, she quickly pushed it away. Aphrodite started speaking, "Everything's set, you'll be going with Clarisse."

Silena shifted her green eyes green eyes to her mother and then to my father. She started to groan, but her mother stopped it with one quick glance. I couldn't blame Silena, we've never been best friends. We always tended to stay out each other's way. To my siblings and me, Aphrodite kids were too arrogant. They thought that they were the prettiest creatures to ever walk the face of the Earth, they always made sure they had the 'in' brand of clothing and that their hair was perfect. That is why us Ares kids stood a distance from them. We were opposites. We were fighters, and they were flirts. We wore our tattered clothes proudly; they wore their ripped jeans proudly. Our two worlds did not mix. I guess Ares and Aphrodite didn't get the memo.

I glanced over to them. Aphrodite was nestled close to my father. Her hand was on his chest; her whole attention was on him.

Silena started talking, "Yeah I would be glad to do it…." I didn't listen to her, the words coming out of her red lips sounded like mush. Ares was kind of focused on Silena, but one little touch from Aphrodite he would turned his head towards her. They would giggle with each other and nuzzle their noses together. There was an occasional kiss on the cheek or the forehead. At one point my father looked at me, he gave me one of those 'do you mind?' looks. I turned away.

Silena was still talking, trying to fill the silence. But, I knew from her expression that she had given up hope of her mother actually listening to her. She started talking to me, I blocked out her useless chitter chatter. Out of the corner of my, I peeked over at the Hephaestus cabin, just out of curiosity. I guessed that they would all be mad that Ares and Aphrodite were all cuddled together. And I was right. They kept on glancing over with scowls on their faces. Some looked around not sure what to do, thinking of what Hephaestus would do with the situation at hand.

I smirked and turned back my table. I had to admit, we were pretty pathetic, maybe not the Ares cabin in particular, but we always sided with our godly parent on a current issue. "Yes, I'll accept the mission." Silena finally concluded her speech. Aphrodite looked up at her.

"Excellent!" she squealed and then added more calmly, "I guess you'll have to see the oracle. I'm not too familiar with this questie thingies. So I you guys figure it out later, ask Chiron or something." Then she turned my father's head back towards her, she playfully touched him on the nose "And I'll see you tonight, correct?"

Father smiled, "You bet." Aphrodite began to lean towards him. Their lips were inches apart, but before they touched, Aphrodite disappeared in a pink 'poof.' Her laughter echoed through out the room.

Ares banged his fist on the table. My food went flying off the plate, "I hate it when she does that," he muttered. Silence filled the corners of the room by now everybody was staring at us. Silena shifted her weight uneasily. My father looked at both of us, "So I guess you two are going on a quest," he said, "A very difficult quest I might add." He waved his hand as if to clear a thought, "Nether the less, you'll have to succeed. The whole balance of the world is in your guys' hands. Already there have been repercussions from Phobos's and Deimos's disappearance. People are falling of the sides of canyons because they are not afraid of heights anymore. Even some mortals have watched a bomb go off and didn't even try to get away." He gave a weak smile.

The whole thought of 'fate of the world in our hands' didn't settle with my mind that much, but I pushed it away, "We won't fail you, I promise."


	4. Chapter 4

I climbed up to the attic of the big house, helping Silena up the ladder along the way. She thanked me quietly. I just tried not to glare at her. I think she noticed. We finally made it to the small room. Looking around I was met with a powerful smell of mildew and rotting mold, a musty smell. This place was in even worse shape than the last time I was here. Beside me Silena covered her nose. The attic was still filled with junk, in the corner was an open chest that had a full suit of armor in it, and the cobwebs looked like a blanket covering it. There were trophies, head's of various monsters, and different souvenirs of all sorts surrounding the place. The only source of light came from the boarded up window.

I walked a little farther in, only to whip back around at the sound of a high-pitched shriek. Silena had tripped over a hydra head. I didn't bother to help her up. I walked backwards a bit shaking my head. She was pathetic. Turning around I almost smashed into the wall. I heard Silena scream behind me. I again spun around to see what was wrong, the oracle herself was there.

I breathe out a sigh, trying to calm my racing heart. The mummy stared lifelessly at me, it turned to Silena, who jumped up and ran towards the door. But, it closed with a huge 'thud'. Silena stopped short. She turned around and backed up into it. I guess there wasn't complete lack of fear yet.

The oracle started speaking, its voice sounded like it hadn't been used in centuries, hoarse and dry, 'I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach seeker, and ask.'

I calmed down a bit. I had done it before, this couldn't be much different "What is our new quest?" I asked in a smooth calm voice. A green mist started swirling around the room. I could not see Silena.

_Out into the rain's divide you shall go,  
to turn back the gods hearts that have gone stone cold.  
A lost goddess shall appear,  
to win a fight,  
but what your looking for is near,  
and with its fear you shall find,  
that love's arrows are not too kind._

The mummy sat down in a chair, 'leave now and find what you seek'. The words seemed to come from the walls. The mist was gone; the attic looked the same as when we got there. I saw Silena across the room. Her back was still on the wooden door; her face was shrouded with disbelief. I walked towards and pulled her off it. Then I began to open the door. The hinges yelped in pain as the door slowly opened I didn't bother waiting to make sure Silena was with me, I started climbing down the ladder.

'What did she mean?' I thought to myself. "Did you also get what she said?" Silena called to me.

"Ya, I did." I called back. I made it to the ground safely. Silena was slowly coming she slipped a little. I caught and helped her down.

"Well, what do you think she meant?" She said.

"I don't know. We'll figure it out on the way." I didn't fell like thinking, plus thinking wasn't my forte. It was useless. Silena looked over at me waiting for a command. I sighed, "Go tell Chiron what the oracle said. Then get packed, we'll leave in the morning."

"Where are we starting?"

I sighed, "At the Colosseum."

She started giggling, "We're going to Rome! That is so romantic!"

I rolled my eyes, "No," I said, "It's in Colorado. It's the American version of the Roman one. Only a few people know about it." Silena still looked confused. I sighed, "I'll explain it when we get there."

'Dumb Aphrodite girls,' I grumbled to myself as I walked towards my cabin. This was going to be a long quest.

***

I stood in my cabin packing my stuff, well standing near my bed, trying to decide between taking my sword or leaving it. It was small enough that it wouldn't set me back much. I just had to strap it to my waist. Then again, I had my spear, would I really need it?

With a sigh, I tossed it on my bed. I had until tomorrow morning to decide. Stuffing some clothes into my backpack I wondered why I thought the Colosseum was the right place to start. It was Phobos and Deimos favorite place to hang out. After all, it was a place to prove your strength. Would that place be too obvious? I mean, they did want to prank us, but, did they want to attack us? And if they ran into hiding, wouldn't they be actually hiding? I sighed. Ares and Aphrodite, two immortal Olympian gods, couldn't find them, how do they expect two mortal demigods to find them?

I looked over to see what Drew was doing, maybe he could help clear my mind. I was thinking way too much and it was getting me nowhere, but he was fast asleep on his bed, his leg was in a cast supported by a few pillows. The questions came back into my head, No, I decided, the real question was how did my dad except me to deal with the little Aphrodite brat? We only had so much time until the lack of fear got really bad. I could have covered so much more ground if he let me go alone! I groaned. He made me take her all so he could impress Aphrodite; she was destroying his common sense!

"So you're taking the little daughter of Aphrodite to track down the two fear gods, that may or may not have attacked and killed your siblings?" A voice called from behind me. I jumped… yet again. Turning around I was met with the same hazel eyes I had seen earlier today.

There was something different about them though, they didn't seem familiar, it was as if it wasn't Chris watching me, it was some stranger. He still had the same clothes, the same hair, and the same scar down his arm that he got from the labyrinth. Why couldn't I see him through all that?

"Clarisse you're staring at me as if you've never seen me before." He said.

I turned around and pulled my backpack shut.

"You still haven't responded."

"Yes, I'm going on a quest with Silena. You already know why."

"You should take someone else with you, someone who can fight. It would make me feel better, you're up against two gods."

"The only other person I would trust to go with me can't."

"Why?" He asked me, he was still staring me over, and staring to walk closer.

"Because he's hurt." I lied, I had the feeling we both knew full well who I was talking about, but that didn't mean for a second I was going to admit it. He was still walking closer, across the doorway, past John's old bed, and finally coming to a pause next to me.

He leaned right across from me. Still staring me strait in the eye. I could count all of his freckles. It suddenly felt very warm in here, I could barley remember how to breath. He picked up the sword I had previously decided not to use. "You should bring this with you. It's easier to get to then your spear."

I plucked it out of his hand, "Fine."

He leaned back a bit, but he was still only a few inches away from me. We were just sort of staring at each other; it was sort of like a contest, who would look away first? Suddenly, with a 'Bam!' The door burst open. Drew woke with a shout. It was Bella and Sherman, both of them appeared to be arguing about something unimportant, but both stopped when they saw how close I was standing to Chris. Not just a few feet away, a few inches apart.

I looked over at them only to realize neither Chris's expression, nor mine, was of shock or embarrassment. Well, his wasn't I have no idea what I looked like right now. Drew looked between the both of us before shrugging and lowering his head. I just smirked at nobody in particular. I placed my sword on the bed. With that Chris turned back to me, he spoke in a voice that suggested we were having a polite conversation, before my siblings interrupted, "Still even if I can't go you should bring someone else."

"Who said I wanted you to go?" I spat back, not even scared of what my siblings would think, or how Chris would react.

"You did. You might not have set it out loud, but you still did." With that he turned back and tossed something at me, I caught it, it was a knife, "Give my best to Silena, she might need it." With that I knew he was talking about the little knife in my hands. I heard the door shut as he left the cabin.

I didn't look at my siblings. I left to change into my p.j's. My thoughts began to drift over to Chris. What the hell was that all about? I wasn't even embarrassed. I was flirting with him in front of my siblings, or someone who looked like him, I still couldn't shake the feeling that the person that had been in front of me wasn't Chris Rodriguez.

"Hey Clarisse?" Drew said so quietly I almost didn't hear him, "Michael Yew said you were going on a quest," He reached into his drawer next to his bed pulling out an object I couldn't make out from over here, "I'm sorry I can't go, but take this-- for safety." I came over and he set the object in his hand, it was a ring. A pretty one too I guess, there was a small sapphire engraved into it. The sapphire was carved into looked like a flower.

"I didn't really picture you as the type to carry around rings Drew."

He chuckled, "It's supposed to be insanely useful, I'm not sure how. Someone I know gave it to me. It's supposed to belong in the Aphrodite family. I heard it was one of the many gifts given to her by Hephaestus on their wedding day. But I think it might be more useful wherever you're going. I'm sure Aphrodite won't mind for a little while, who knows, she might not even care. I'm not sure of what it does, but it didn't fit on me to try out, you should have It."

"Thank you. You know it might be a good thing it doesn't fit on you. A gem this pretty might give people the wrong idea." I said smiling at my brother, carefully sliding it on to my left hand.

"Goodnight Clarisse." He said, falling asleep.

Getting up I buried myself into my bed. In an instant I could feel the darkness washing over me. Then my eyes shut.

***

I lay in my bed, awake, which was funny since I could've sworn that I fell asleep. A pink glow filtrated through the room. I looked at my sleeping siblings; the pink light outlined their bodies. I turned my head to the door. The rays were crawling in from underneath the door.

I threw my blankets off. A cold air fell onto my body. I resisted the urge to pull them back on. I got up and walked to the door. My footsteps creaked on the floorboards. I touched the doorknob, it was cool and smooth. With a turn of the wrist and a tug, I opened the door.

The light died down and there before me stood Aphrodite. She smiled, "Hello Clarisse."

I groaned, "What the hell are you doing here!" I shouted at her, "I'm going a quest to save your sons, and you're keeping me up at this ungodly hour." I know I was rude, but that thought didn't cross my mind at the time.

She looked down at me her image flickered a little; she was trying to keep her cool. "This is just a dream Clarisse," she said, "It won't disturb your sleep."

I shrugged, "Why are you here?"

She smiled again, "I just want to show you what love has in store for you." A dreamy stare covered her face, "Come with me." She turned and went into the darkness.

I wanted to go back into my cabin, but for some reason I followed Aphrodite. She seemed to float over the ground; her feet barely even touched the dirt. She led me to a cabin that looked like a warehouse, scraps of metal of were scattered around it. A robot dog guarded the door. "Why did you bring me here?" I asked. Aphrodite put a finger up to her lips and glided to the door.

I walked behind her, the dog didn't even raise and alarm. She opened the door and beckoned me inside. I stepped inside, the floor was metal, and it was cold, freezing cold, beneath my bare feet. Who would want to live in this place?

The room was dimly lit. Cots, for beds, were strung out around the sides of the cabin. Sleeping campers snored. The walls were covered with blueprints of engines, weapons, computers, jewelry and things I could not even recognize. In the middle of the room, the main focus was a workbench. Ideas and unfinished projects were scattered about on the table. I recognized Beckendorf he was facing a god, over in a dark corner of the room, they were talking in hushed voices to avoid waking the others.

The god was deformed, to say the least. His head was shaped like a pear, his two legs were in braces, and soot laced his dropping beard.

"Father," Beckendorf breathed, "I don't understand…"

Hephaestus cut his son off, "I do, your going for love. Let me tell you this Charles, love will leave you empty-handed. It will make you say things that you never thought you'd say. You'll do things that defy common sense. Save your heart from trouble, don't go."

Beckendorf started speaking again, his voice was soft, quiet, trembling, "I'm going, I'm going, I'm going to save Phobos and Deimos, I want Silena to notice me, instead of those other boys."

Hephaestus groaned, "You want to save them!" he shouted, "They are against me. My loving wife went behind my back and had them with my brother!"

Beckendorf looked down, "I know, but if they don't come back the whole world will be in trouble."

Hephaestus rolled his eyes, "Like you care!" he shouted, "They only reason want to go is because of that little Aphrodite girl," Beckendorf opened his mouth to protest, but his father did not let him speak, "Don't you say anything! You know it's true, you said it yourself." Beckendorf didn't say anything after that. Hephaestus became even more furious, "Ok, fine go then, why would I care?" In a huge puff of black smoke he disappeared.

I turned to Aphrodite. "Why did you want me to see this?" I asked, not caring if the cabin heard.

"Oh, I just wanted to show you how you'll feel really soon about a certain someone," she winked at me, "Plus, it couldn't hurt to know who else is going, right?" I couldn't answer, the next thing I knew I was awake in my bed.


	5. Chapter 5

"Come on, Silena!" I shouted banging on the door of the Aphrodite cabin. How much time could it possibly take to put on your clothes? I never wore makeup but it couldn't possibly take two hours!

She could have at least put a big sign on her door, 'Hey Clarisse, It's going to take me a few hours to get dressed. Go get some coffee, or breakfast… Maybe wait for Drew's legs to heal.' You know, just a heads up!

The door of the cabin opened with a creak. Silena poked her head out, she looked ready to go, her makeup and clothes were on, "Look Clarisse, I need five more minutes alright?"

"You said that two hours ago. Now come on! My dad is letting us borrow his chariot. I should have been there an hour ago. Do you know how many people want to get their hands on it? If something happens because I was late, he will kill me, then I swear! I will rise from the dead and kill you!"

"You know your awfully scared considering Phobos and Deimos are missing." She said in the awful voice of hers.

"You know what? I'm leaving. I don't care if you're not ready." I stormed off before she could respond.

"Oh fine, Clarisse, wait up!" I heard her call after me. I cracked my knuckles again. She was already ticking me off, and we hadn't even left yet!

We finally got to the place where the Chariot would be parked. Good news, dad's chariot is still there. It was in the shape of a motorcycle. I could see it through the distance. Bad news, a figure, I couldn't make out, was leaning on the motorcycle.

I ran closer, who dared touch my dad's Chariot! Oh--- Beckendorf, I should've of known. He was holding onto a sack. "Charlie!" My eardrums throbbed at Silena's squeal.

"I'm coming with you guys." He said grinning at Silena. He tried to step closer I guess in a suave way, but he lost his balance and almost fell. The motorcycle came crashing down. I inhaled sharply trying not to loose patience.

"Good, you can protect--that." I said referring to Silena. She didn't seem to hear me. "Which reminds me, gift from Chris." I said handing her the dagger he had tossed me previously. She moved to take it. My hands almost didn't release it. Almost like my body didn't want to give it to her.

"Oh! Pretty ring, where'd you get it?" She said.

I didn't answer her but I knew Beckendorf would know what the ring was. He was after all, a child of Hephaestus. I was right he half-glared at me. It didn't matter. It belonged to me now. I picked up the motorcycle, I envisioned it as a pick up truck with three seats in the front. They watched in aw as it started slowly changing. Silena jumped up into the truck and scooted into the middle.

"I know what that ring is." Beckendorf whispered to me.

"And I know why you're here."

"You can do anything you want. But one way or another I'm going to make sure she gets her ring back." He paused, staring me over, "I'm not scared of you just because of who your father is."

"They never are." I responded. I was sure he didn't know what I was talking about. Truth is, I didn't either. "It's not her ring."

"It belongs to the Aphrodite and her family. In other words Silena."

"Hmm, finder keepers, loser weepers. Now, do you know what it does or not?"

He huffed, "No."

I left to get into the truck before Beckendorf could say another word to me. I slammed the door and started the ignition. It gave out a healthy roar. Beckendorf took the seat next to Silena, while I sat on the other side of her. He glared at me for a second, but I paid no attention. I gripped the steering wheel and put it into first gear. I then hit the gas pedal. The truck moved forward and we were on our way.

We slowly drove out of Camp Halfblood. A bunch of Aphrodite kids were strung along the border of the camp. They held up signs with sparkly letters. I couldn't read them but I guessed they said something like, "Good luck Silena!" or "Bring them Home!" I laughed to myself the phrases were probably spelt wrong too.

We were a good quarter mile up the road when Silena started annoying me. It all started with the power button of the radio. She flicked it on and turned the station, Leona Lewis's Bleeding Love came on.

I gripped the steering wheel. I hated that kind of music. I quickly switched the station to its original number. She put back. I switched it back. She switched it again. I switched it back.

"Will you stop that?!" I screamed at her.

"What?" she said, turning the dials of the radio, "Can't I just listen to music?"

"But," I protested, "All of that is crap!"

I switched it back. "No it's not!" she said playing with the dial again.

"Yes it is!" I turned it back to my station.

"What's wrong with the Jonas Brothers? Huh?" She switched it back, S.O.S was playing.

"They are the weakest band I've every heard of!" I turned the dial back, "You're making me listen to their pathetic excuse of lyrics, vocals, and instrumentals."

She grabbed the dial and turned it back to her station again, "Yeah well, I rather hear them than the screaming garbage you listen to."

"Well…"

I was caught of by a loud yell sounded by Beckendorf, "Will you guys shut up! For the gods' sakes, you guys, we are not even remotely down with the quest and you're bickering!" He touched the radio with his fingertips.

I rolled my eyes and began the turn the dial again, but the station wasn't changing. I looked down at the numbers. No matter which way I turned the knob they wouldn't change. Beckendorf must've done something to it.

I sighed, "Fine," I told them, "You win, this time." Silena squealed and started dancing in her seat, singing off key to the tune.

A few hours and a stop for coffee later, Silena was still listening to her gods' awful music. If I a slight headache before… it's nothing compared to what it became. The only thing keeping me sane was my wide-open window. Cold, fresh, air was washing through, causing my hair to blow everywhere, and it slightly drowned out the noise of Silena singing along to a band called… Girlicious. Where do people come up with these names?

Even Beckendorf seemed to be getting restless. Almost as if he regretted the decision to give Silena what she wanted, "Where'd that dagger come from?" He asked, referring to the bronze dagger the girl next to me was holding.

I shrugged, "Didn't you see me hand it to her? It's from Chris."

"When?"

"When we got in the car."

"No, when did he give it to you?"

"Last night, he was with me when I was packing."

Beckendorf frowned, but Silena cut in, "He's so thoughtful." She said.

Beckendorf looked at me, suddenly my window rolled up. I glared at him. I pushed the button to send it back down, but it wouldn't budge. Damn those Hephaestus kids!

"What do you mean he was with you last night?" Beckendorf asked me. His voice was laced with confusion. Silena squirmed a little between us and then settled down taking a sip of her coffee.

"Last night! He handed me the dagger to give Silena." I told him.

"When was this?" Beckendorf asked.

I inhaled sharply, "About an hour before curfew."

"That's impossible, he was with me after dinner. I remember, because he convinced me to come with you guys. He said he wanted someone strong enough to go in his place, to pro—" Beckendorf paused, " –he, he wanted someone in his place."

I frowned. I was about to say something, but Silena's squeal cut me off, "Oh, so he was the one to get you to come with us!" Beckendorf grinned brightly at her excitement, "Remind me to give him a big kiss on the cheek when we get back!"

I snorted as Beckendorf's grin came right off his face, "No, I was already going to come," he said hurriedly, "He just gave me a bigger push. That's all."

I rolled my eyes, "We're getting off subject, and he probably just came over after he was done talking to you."

"That's impossible! He was with me until well after curfew. You'd be in bed by then. And I know because he was practically running back to the Hermes cabin, trying to avoid the harpies!"

My head was really starting to pound at my skull, "Then he probably left somewhere in between! It's not like you can keep track of the guy all the time! We have a few days of drive ahead of us. So try to get some sleep, we're gonna be taking turns driving because there's no way I'm stopping at hotels!"

Beckendorf looked like he wanted to say something, but he shut his mouth at the look I gave him. Silena just shrugged and huddled up between the two of us.

I sighed in relief a few hours later when the rain started to come down, Silena fell fast asleep in between us. She was scrunched up in the blanket I had brought. But, her body was still trembling. I turned on the heater.

"Clarisse," I faintly heard Beckendorf's voice, "you've been driving for ten hours, why don't you pull over at the next rest stop and I'll start driving."

I nodded, a few minutes later Beckendorf was pulling back out into the freeway. Silena had moved in her sleep and now her head was resting on my shoulder. I was too tired to care.

Carefully I looked at Beckendorf, he was watching the road his eyes were slightly narrowed. Looking down I slid the ring off my hand, setting it carefully in a safety hatch Ares cooked up to hide his valuables. It was the safest thing in here, only those related to Ares could access it. Even if Beckendorf told Silena about the ring, there's now way she can take it back.

I looked out the window again. Little droplets of rain were sliding down my window. I found myself wishing I were back at the cabin, in the summer. When all my siblings were there, we would cook up fruitless attempts to make the other campers miserable.

"Clarisse," Beckendorf's voice again sounded.

"What?" I said sleepily. I sounded harsher then I wanted to sound.

"I was just wondering what the prophecy. I don't know what it is, and where we're going. Where are we going?"

I sighed and repeated the prophecy and told him about the Colosseum, "It's at the Continental Divide "

He seemed to think about it for a second, "Could that be the Rain's Divide? Isn't that place a water shed that one half the rain goes into the Atlantic Ocean and the other half goes to the Pacific Ocean?"

I shrugged, "Who knows? I guess that makes sense." With that I drifted off the sleep.

***

I was cold and the place I was in was dark. Where were Beckendorf and Silena? I called for them, only Echo responded. I didn't know how I got there, or why I was there. I was just- there. I looked around, but my eyes saw nothing. I felt alone. I looked at the black emptiness in front of me. I stood there for a few seconds, not knowing what to do.

A voice suddenly started talking, I couldn't understand it, nor could I see the person but I could recognize that voice from anywhere. "Deimos," I yelled, "Where are you?"

"Well, well, well," this time it was Phobos's voice, "isn't it our little sister, Clarisse?"

"Oh shut up Phobos," I heard Deimos say, "We are in big trouble now and she's trying to help us."

Phobos started speaking softy. He murmured a few words that I couldn't make out, but then his voice became louder. He started speaking to me, "I'm being serious this time, Clarisse, don't come looking for us. It'll put your life in great risk, and you'll not be able to find us…. you'll need the help of a god, but, nowadays you can't trust any of them anymore."

"Yeah," Deimos said, "what he said."

Phobos sighed, probably annoyed that his brother cut in, "Anyways, what I was saying… what was I saying?"

"I dunno." Deimos said.

"Oh you shut up!" Phobos yelled, "You're the one that made me lose my train of thought in the first place, and it was going to sound smart for once!"

"I think it might've been something about…"

"Shut up! You just made me lose it again!"

Silence. More Silence. I wasn't even sure if they were there anymore. "Uh guys?" I called out, "I'm still here!"

"I got it!" yelled Phobos.

"Good," said Deimos.

There was silence again for about two seconds Deimos broke it, "Well, what were you going to say?"

"I lost it again."

Deimos gave a frustrated scream. "You know what!" he said, "I'll finish it for you! Clarisse, are you still there?"

"Yeah," I said trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice.

"Okay good. Well, you can't trust anybody, you hear? Even some of the Olympian gods could've turned, or at least wanted to get rid of us. The quest you are going on is going to be a failure. You won't be able to find us. Only a god will be able to help you and there are a few problems with that. Number one, gods aren't suppose to help with quests unless with special permission from Zeus, and he doesn't like us very much."

"Yeah," Phobos cut in, "he says we're too much like our father."

"This time you shut up! I'm the one speaking here."

"Okay,"

"Number two, like I said before you can't trust anybody. Not even Ares and Aphrodite."

"But Deimos," Phobos cut in again, "They're our parents they sent Clarisse and Silena to get us."

Deimos sighed, "Okay, you can trust them, but not anyone under them."

"Except Eros and Anteros, they'll help you."

I groaned, Eros and Anteros are the gods of love and annoying ones at that. But, maybe I could have the patience to talk to them. After all, I will have to put up with Silena. Also, if Phobos and Deimos think their brothers know something about their disappearance, then, well, they probably do.

"Okay," I said, my voice quivered a little. I hated asking things, "Where can I find Eros and Anteros?"

"I don't know," Deimos said, "They go all over the place making people fall in love." Phobos made a 'yuck' sound.

"Okay…" I started, like that helped

"I know where you might be able to find them," Phobos said suddenly, "I remember when I had to work under my mom, I was something like 'the fear of losing love' or something like that and…."

"I'll get to the point for you," Deimos cut in sharply, "Well, we were both working for mom at the time and where the main place all the gods under her hung out was…"

"Deimos!' Phobos cut in, "Remember when I made people so scared that they were going to lose their lover they acted all schizophrenic? And mom was saying I was going too overboard and I was like…."

"Phobos! May I get to the point?"

"Oh sure."

"Ok, so we hung out a lot at Las Vegas." I made a mental check in my mind, to make sure I went there to seek them out.

"And there was one in Hawaii and Niagara Falls." I sighed all those were places were so far away from each other, I knew I wasn't going to find them. That would be a whole other quest.

"Okay," I said, "I'm going to find you guys, end of story right?"

"No," Deimos said, his voice hushed, "it's impossible."

"No its not," Phobos started up.

"Hold on," Deimos said, "I thought you were backing me up on this. You said yourself....."

"I changed my mind." Deimos grumbled something I couldn't understand and Phobos started speaking again, "This quest will be hard but not impossible, after all, almost anything can happen. But, I'll give one piece of advice, whatever that's worth." I snorted, advice from Phobos, and pigs fly, oh wait, some do.

"Remember Clarisse," Phobos said, "betrayal comes from within." I didn't have time to ask any questions for I was jolted up with a big 'pop'.


	6. Chapter 6

The ride became really bumpy. I looked over to see Beckendorf. He sat next to me, looking around his eyes cloudy and unfocused, obviously awakened the way I had been. I see Silena trying to control the truck. I cursed under my breath, we had a flat.

"Pull over to the side of the road," Beckendorf instructed in a softer tone than I could've done.

Silena gently turned the steering wheel and pulled over. I got out and checked the tire. Just like I thought, a tire was popped.

"What did I do?" I heard Silena ask.

I lifted my head and looked at her, "You gave us a flat." My voice shook with anger. I tried to keep under control, but I have a very 'short wick' and even little things set me off.

I waited for Silena's response. She blinked a couple of times before she said, "Oh."

That sent me off, "'Oh,' is all you can say?!" I screamed, "You just got us stuck on the side of the road in whatever state we are in! Do you even know how much it'll cost to get this fixed?! Too much, and…" During my tirade I notice Silena's eyes start to well up with tears but I didn't stop, I couldn't stop. Once I started, it was almost impossible to cool me down. The best way to avoid a fight was to back away and leave. But that was out of the option for Silena, we were stuck with each other. I kept shouting curses at her and she would cry more. My rage consumed me so much that I didn't notice Beckendorf crouch down at the tire and start to tamper with.

He stood up again. "It's okay Clarisse, it's fixed," he must've of said that quietly. I didn't hear him; my shouting was clogging my ears. "Clarisse, I said, it's fixed!" This time he screamed it. It pierced through my rampage. Suddenly silence floated in the air. "The tire's fine," Beckendorf said again, "Let's just put this behind us and start back on our way." I didn't say anything. I was still mad, there was no reason to be, but I was. I got behind the wheel and started the ignition.

* * *

After a few hours and stormy weather, we finally made it to the Continental Divide.

"Here we are!" Silena squealed when she saw the sign. Thank the gods! These last few days have been hell. Between listening to the Aphrodite girls music, and the insane leg cramps from sitting down for so long. I'm ready to get moving.

"Ummm, Clarisse?" I heard Beckendorf say, "Where is this Colosseum?"

I sighed, and walked over to this huge boulder. I tapped it twice a muttered an ancient Greek chant my father had taught me. A door way suddenly craved into the boulder revealing a long staircase that went into the heart of the mountain. Silena and Beckendorf stood beside me, staring open mouthed at the dark stairway. I started down the stairs and they hesitantly followed me.

"Hey Clarisse, this doesn't look like the Colosseum you were talking about…" Beckendorf told me, as he stared around the vast alley that laid at the foot of the stairs.

"Of course it doesn't. If it looked like a Colosseum, then the mortals would know about it for it would have to be above ground. We just call it Colosseum to sound impressive. It's really just an underground fighting arena."

Silena plugged her nose, "What's that smell?"

I looked around the dark alley; I had only been here once, with my father. It looked the same, dark, unwelcoming, with small scraps of garbage filtering about, I shrugged, "Probably a mix of sweat, blood, and cat litter." With that I walked around a puddle of gods know what, to a small black door. Knocking twice, it opened to reveal a large semi-scary man, his black hair was tied in a knot , and a huge jagged scar was scrawled down his neck.

"Who are you?" he said loudly, Silena shrank back behind Beckendorf.

I calmly looked up at him. I had the pleasure of meeting this man before, he wouldn't hurt a fly . . . Not unless he needed to. "My name is Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares, the owner of this Colosseum," I said.

The man grunted, but he stared down at me with a small bit of recognition . "That man must have twenty kids." _Thirty-six, only a dozen of us are at camp._ "And all of his kids are talented with a sword," Then he turned to me, "I'm sure you're no exception, prove it."

I picked up the sword I left strapped around my waist. I looked straight into his eyes.

"C'mon," I said, "fight me."

The man chuckled, "Clarisse. Clarisse La Rue, I was just testing you, of course, I remember you!" Suddenly he grinned, "Well, well, you look just like your Daddy. I can tell you're who you say you are, come in."

I nodded, "Thank you, Bobby."

"I can't believe you remember my name!" He said heartily his face filled with joy.

Suddenly his expression changed and he stopped us, "Who are they? His eyes lingered on Silena for a few seconds longer than they should have.

"The girl's is the daughter of my father's girlfriend."

Bobby snorted and rolled his eyes, "Which one?"

I ignored him. "And the other one's…. my cousin." The word felt thick on my mouth. Admitting that Beckendorf was my cousin was like saying Silena was as good as my _almost_ stepsister, both were sad truths, and also truths I preferred to overlook.

Bobby nodded, still looking at Silena. Beckendorf moved slightly to shield her. Bobby sighed, turning to let me in he said, "Don't worry, I wouldn't hurt that little girl even if I thought I could escape your father. You would think the man's some kind of god the way he tracks people down."

I smirked, "Believe me, sometimes I think the same thing."

Bobby laughed, "Well then, come on. Are you looking for anybody in particular?" I gestured for them to follow me, and together we entered the dark building; slowly we started walking up another staircase. I asked the man about Phobos and Deimos, or Rick and Nick the names they were going under. Ares didn't bother to disguise his name, but it would look odd if he also had children under the name of Phobos and Deimos.

"I'm sorry Clarisse," Bobby said, "but I haven't heard from your brothers in awhile."

I sighed, just what we needed, a dead end. "Do you know anything that might help us?" Beckendorf called from a few steps behind us.

"No, but the boys might." He paused at a dark door, turning me he said so quietly, I had to lean in to hear him, "Be careful, Clarisse. You don't have your father with you this time. These men… They're not… Good people. There are no rules down here. I'm not to worried about you, if you're anything like your father, I'd be more worried about the boys." He turned to make sure Silena and Beckendorf weren't listening, "Watch out for that little girl. She's not safe here, no matter what they say."

Before I could ask him what he meant, he pulled open the door. I was instantly met with loud shouts, and an awful smell. Carefully we walked into the dark room, the only source of light appeared to be the flickering lamp. This place wasn't nearly as interesting as I remember it to be. It was washed out and grungy, the only spot not covered in gangsters was in the very middle of the room, the fight zone.

"Hey boys, and ladies! Quiet down." He called, very few people obeyed, "Hey! Guys!" He called again, fruitlessly, "That's it," He mumbled, "SHUT UP!" I could have sworn his voice shook the entire room, which was now silent as a grave. Their shock wore off quickly, replaced by leers, some of them crossed their arms, and a cruel smile appeared on their faces.

"Who are these little kids, Bobby?" One of the men asked, his voice was hoarse.

He pointed at each one of us as he described who we were, "She's the boss's daughter, the other girl is the boss's girlfriend's daughter, and the boy is the boss's daughter's cousin." If they followed any of that, it didn't show on their faces. "They're looking for information on Rick and Nick."

They all started chatting amongst themselves. A man stood up from his chair. He looked like he was in his mid-thirties, his blonde hair was cut short, he was smiling, but it didn't reach his eyes, when he spoke it was with a slight accent, "Ah, you are looking for those, how do should put it? Pig headed…. No, lousy, no… uh, boys!"

"Why do they always speak in an accent?" I heard Silena mumble.

"I apologize, my English not so good. But yes, I believe I have some information you might find useful."

Beckendorf opened his mouth, I quickly stepped on his toe, muttering, "Hush!"

A glint appeared in the mans eyes, he stared me over, a little to openly for my taste. "I'll tell you what. You can hear everything you want to know, all you have to do is win three fights against my boys, but what kind of host would I be if I made you fight instantly after you traveled all the way down here? Feel free to rest for a few hours. Come to me when you're ready." He spoke without pausing for a single breath, and everything about him screamed, 'trouble!'

He must be my father's second in command but I've never have seen before, so he probably just ran the place when dad's away.

"What about her?" I called out to his retreating figure, one hand was in my pocket, the other pointing at Silena. "She can't fight."

"Oh, don't worry about it! One of you can pick up her slack." He called back, another evil grin appeared on his face. With that he walked away, the men went back to fighting completely ignoring us.

"You three should rest up, he doesn't like to wait, and I'll see if I can get you some food or water. Until then wait over there." Bobby muttered to Silena and Beckendorf. I was about to walk after Silena, but a force grabbed my arm and pulled me backwards.

"What the hell!" I almost shouted, turning around to kick this persons butt, I saw it was just Bobby pushing me into a corner. He looked around making sure nobody was paying attention. They were all watching the fight breaking out in front of them. "Listen Clarisse, this is important! And keep quiet, I don't want to be overheard." He looked around nervously, then reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small sharp knife.

"What are you---?"

He shushed me. "You might need this, Clarisse. I told you before you need to be careful. But I have something else that might be useful. If you find yourself… In a tough spot… Our leader, he's not very strong." He said, he looked to be choosing his words carefully.

"What do you mean?" I asked him confused, leaders had to be strong. The leader of gangs was the one that, normally, had the worst reputation.

"Well, he is strong… Just not… well… to put it this way, he lied, and cheated his way to the top. He somehow gained Ares' trust, and takes over this place when Ares has one of his many disappearances, but he's bad news seriously Clarisse, watch out. And one more thing, you're not alone, you have friends here, people who are loyal to Ares, they will help you, you just need to ask for it."

Before I could say anything else, he whipped around and left. I didn't really wonder about what he had told me, he just confirmed what I already noticed. Their leader walked around his troops warily. As if afraid of them, a real leader would shove past them, as if daring them to challenge him. He clearly only looked like he knew what he was doing to the untrained eye.

I looked over to him. He was lounging on a chair, smirking at the fight below him. I don't know what he said to father, or what he did. But somehow he managed to gain his trust. One thing was for certain: this man didn't know what was coming.

I walked back over to where Beckendorf was munching on an apple watching the fight, I couldn't read his expression, but when he looked up at me. His eyes trailed to the hand where my ring use to be. "Where's the ring?" He asked.

I followed his gaze to my left hand. "You'll never find it." I said with a laugh. I leaned over and grabbed an orange. I shifted over to get a better view of the arena. Heavy weight, and tough men were fighting at the mat. I watched interested. Their muscles rippled as they punched each other, sweat covered their bodies, they breathed heavily.

These people reminded me of my home, more specifically my cabin. There was something about the way they – "Oh, gods! This place is horrible, and it smells!" Silena shrieked from behind me, if she was smart she would have stopped there, but of course she isn't. "I mean, come on! Who wants to get beaten up for a living?"

"It's called fighting for honor!" I snarled. Beckendorf sighed, clearly knowing where this was going. "And not everyone wants to sit around being completely useless all day!"

Silena finally seemed ready to fight back, "We don't sit around all day, believe it or not, we actually contribute something to the camp besides fighting, and –"

Our raised voices attracted some unwanted attention, one of the men shouted out, "Catfight!"

"Oh, really? So how to suppose sitting around all day and worrying about your clothes-"

"That's it you two!" Beckendorf snarled, grabbing us both by the hands he dragged us a little closer. "What is wrong with you guys?" He said softly, "Phobos and Deimos are missing, and here you two are arguing about something so pathetic!"

"Well, she was—" Silena began, but Beckendorf silenced her with a hand gesture. "I don't want to hear it. You girls are on the same side. You're fighting for the same cause! For gods sake, if we can complete this quest then we can return to camp, where you guys can bicker all you want."

"Oh yeah, easy for you to say. You're—" I began, but he cut me off.

"Clarisse, for once throw away the need to fight with everything and everyone and listen to me!" He whispered furiously. "If this quest fails the world will be in big trouble. Don't give me that look, you know it's true. And so help me! I will not tell the gods we failed 'cause you two couldn't put aside your differences for a few weeks and work together.'" He was scowling at both of us as if we were little kids.

Silena and I avoided his gaze. Then he seemed to calm down a bit. "Now, I'm gonna leave you to sort out your problems." With that he turned around and stormed off. I probably should have stayed and talked to her, but of course, being who I was, I didn't. Giving Silena one last glare, I left her alone in the dingy corner.


	7. Chapter 7

Heart throbbing, head spinning, the thrilling sensation of a fight pounded with in me. My eyes were closed and one hand was behind my back. That was my part of the boast. Blame my prideful nature but I told the boss that I could beat whoever he threw at me with one hand behind my back and my eyes shut. It earned an amazed stare from Silena, I could've sworn I saw something like admiration swirl in her irises. But, then the second it appeared it washed away with a strange look of concern. I pushed her gaze away by looking away. We weren't friends- I must've read her emotions wrong.

Beckendorf had come up and jabbed me in the side with his elbow. "What was that for?" he hissed, "We're on a mission here, you can't just pick non-winnable fights to boast your huge ego when as Ares, himself, kind of put it, 'the whole fate of the world is in your hands, Clarisse."

I turned towards him and smiled. "Don't worry about a thing Beckendorf, after all I _am _the daughter of a _war god_. What can possibly go wrong?"

My opponent's and my sword clashed. The boss decided to have a sword fight, he said he hasn't seen a real good one in a long time. I put all my strength into my blade and my opponent lost his grip on our joining. His sword slipped off mine. I lunged forward, but he quickly parried it. People were watching in amazement. I could tell, not one sound rolled of their tongues. Like I said, I am the daughter of Ares. War and fighting is in my nature in my _blood_. When fighting I can feel my opponents movements pulse through my body. I know what they are going to do even before they perform the action. They only thing that distracts children of Ares is unexpected things, the stuff we consider _dirty_. For example, turning invisible while fighting (Stupid Athena kids.) or having a huge wave come out of nowhere and hit the person (Percy Jackson will pay eventually.) Fighting must be what you have and what you got, no hidden surprises, just to make it fair so that the best man wins.

I sensed the man lung forward. I stepped out of the way and then with a slash scraped my blade across his hip. The man yowled in pain. I smiled, I knew fresh blood now was forming. Blood only heightened my senses. Each attack he thrust at me I quickly reversed it. Each triumphant move I made only made me more ready. My power was coming out of his embarrassment, his anger, his hatred, and his weakness. There was one thing that wasn't coming from him that me less powerful than I should've been at that point-_fear. He should've been afraid. Ares kids also get some of their power from fear- fear is an emotion tied to war. Just another reason that Phobos and Deimos had to come back._

For awhile, I was dragging the fight on. It was fun to play with my opponent's emotions, letting them bring more of my powers out. But, then I got bored. Nothing new was going to come out of him. With ease, I lodged his sword from his hand. It flew across the arena and clattered on the floor. The man looked away, a big mistake. With all the power surging with in me, I easily kicked him down and brought the tip of my sword to his neck. I opened my eyes and looked down at his pathetic figure. A smile crept up upon my face, "I win." I stated the fact.

Nothing happened. A heartbeat later - thunderous applause. I tried hard not to look smug . . . that is, until I saw the look of shock plastered on Beckendorf's face. I suppose I should be insulted. By now he should know just how incredible my skill was. But I decided instead to bask in the adoration of my admirers.

It was good to be home.

But like all good things, it didn't last. Soon enough, Beckendorf was called to the mat, I snorted as he lumbered out, hand clutching the cheek Silena had kissed for luck. I barely registered when in passing he congratulated me, my eyes were fixed upon his opponent.

Six foot tall, caked in muscle and brimming with confidence. I was pissed. Of course he would get the actual competition! Too add insult to injury, the boss called for a fist fight.

Glaring at anything that dared move my way, my fingers began tapping relentlessly against the hidden knife in my jacket pocket, as the roars of the crowd started up and Beckendorf began his fight. My whole being was itching to use the shiny little weapon, consequences be damned!

I could only seethe as Beckendorf dispatched his opponent seemingly with ease. My blood boiled as the crowd howled louder for him than me! I hated them. It shouldn't be possible for them to forget me so easily!

When the Boss stood up to calm the crowd, and to begin the next fight, my feet started moving on there own. I was determined to beat the damn child of Hephaestus to the punch and volunteer to take the stupid daughter of Aphrodite's place first.

Naturally, nothing was that easy. If my blood was boiling when the crowd screamed Beckendorf's name . . . let's just say, it was nothing compared to the feeling of pure and utter hatred that steamed my entire body as he laughed and called Silena to the mat. I was paused for a second in shock. But then my brain did overtime and screamed at me, _Dam it, Clarisse, you should've known this was going to happen. _And you know what? It was right, judging form that smirk on his face, I should've.

Once I got over my initial shock it was almost easy to begin moving his way, fingers enclosing around the sharp dagger and tugging it from it's confines. I could hear Silena shrieking my name, telling me to stop. But, it sounded far off, nothing I was about to pay attention to. Besides my blood was heating, preparing for a battle, nothing was going to stop me.

I held the hilt firmly, my fist became raised. It only took a mere second for his bodyguards to realize what I was doing. In a flash one grabbed me from behind, twisting the dagger sharply from my hand. "You son of a - " I howled, cut off as a guard slapped my cheek. I outright ignored the painful sting. The crowd was dead silent, backing up quickly to avoid anyone's wrath. I struggled viciously against the guard, but he held me in a firm grip.

_Think, Clarisse! How do you get out of this grip? _Except it was impossible to do anything other than struggle violently. He had my wrist pinned against my shoulder in a death grip, and held me against the ground so I couldn't kick at him._Dammit, think! _

Then something weird happened. He unbuttoned the back pocket of my jeans. The boss couldn't see me because with so many fighters in the room, chaos was bound to happen. "_Keep struggling." _He whispered against the crook of my ear. It was only then that I realized I had stopped moving. My confusion increased tenfold when I felt him slip something into the pocket. Something small and metal. Across the room my eyes connected with another man, a red head, with a thick mustache. A son of Ares. Nonchalantly, he reached into his coat, extracting a glinting object. My brothers eyes shone as he tossed it underneath the table, nodding at me, before turning and slipping through the crowd unnoticed.

It was about then that the Boss, whatever his name was, had recovered and took control of the room.

Straightening out his jacket, he furrowed his eyebrows, motioning for the guard to release me. I couldn't even smirk. Slowly but surely, my heartbeat went back to normal and I began to realize just what I had started. _Oh crap. _Turning I met the eyes of Beckendorf, he was breathing heavily. Also being released my another group of guards. Silena wasn't far behind him, standing so close to the wall, she might have blended in if she wasn't wearing such obvious clothes.

In another time, in another moment, if I was a completely different person, I would have found the entire situation odd. First with the guard. He had re-buttoned my pocket when my brother had thrown the object, and when I reached backwards to feel my pocket, he hurriedly smacked my hand away. _"Not yet!" _He hissed.

Also, what son of Ares avoided a fight? Maybe, I was wrong. There was a whole throng of big guys in here, he could just belong to them.

It didn't matter. Thanks to my own stupidity, I regretted to admit. I was now standing here defenseless, weaponless, confused, and in the mercy of a ticked of Mafia Boss. Speaking of weaponless, my eyes trailed the short few feet to where the shiny dagger had been tossed. A dusty corner two feet from Silena. She looked up to meet my eyes, shaky and fearful. But nonetheless, she walked over to it as carefully as possible, bending down as if to straighten her boots and quickly slipped it underneath her sleeve. Luckily with the crowd beginning to cause an uproar in the background, nobody noticed.

So I turned my attention back to the man who caused all this in the first place.

The man smiled as he somehow took control of the room again. The men glared at him. "Joe," the boss simply said. A big man stepped out on the mat, a man even bigger than the one Beckendorf had fought.

Then the boss looked directly at Silena.

My anger boiled over even more, _Control yourself Clarisse._

"You promised," I seethed, "You promised she wouldn't have to fight!" Beckendorf slid in front of Silena, if I was upset, it was nothing compared to him. His teeth gritted together, scraping. His eyes were narrowed into tiny slits, glaring across the room.

It just wasn't right.

The boss laughed loudly, "Oh, what's the harm of a little fistfight?" He said the words tauntingly, as if daring me to find a way out of this.

"A little fistfight?" Beckendorf shouted, "Look at him, she'll get crushed!" He gestured behind me, towards the man on the mat. The man smirked towards us, showing a few missing teeth.

The boss seem to complete for awhile, obviously enjoying teasing us. "All right then . . . I'll tell you what," he said after awhile. "If anyone of _my_ people, are willing to step up and fight, then please, step forward."

Silena looked around frantically with a hopeless look shining in her eyes. Nobody was going to question the boss, nobody was willing to – "I will go in her place!" A voice declared.

My face lifted up immediately, hopefully. Only for it to drop back down a second later. The only sound to fill the room was a drawn out sigh from another man, "Sit back down, Hannah!"

I looked back up to the girl in front of me, fruitlessly, hoping that what I saw before was just a trick of my imagination. It wasn't. She was . . . tiny, five-two at the most, wearing green flats, jeans, and a flowing white shirt. Her blonde hair fell in delicate curls all around her face, her eyes were the brightest green I've ever seen, and her lips were painted pink. "I will not sit back down. I will fight in the young girls place." Her voice was soothing and beautiful. I felt like I should know her, but nothing was coming up in my mind.

"I really wish you would." The boss said, there was something in his voice that was different, a tenderness. As if they went way back, before all _this_.

But when she spoke towards him, her voice was cold, "You might, people wish for a lot of things. I wish for balance, and I fear every day that this world will tilt it's scales for my father's or mother's favor. But, I know the chances of that are as good as these three young kids getting out of here with everything they need and happy smiles on their faces for the world thrives on almost opposites. Still, I wish for their endeavor to be a successful one, so I will do everything in my power to ensure that will happen."

My head turned to connect with Beckendorf and Silena's before I could stop myself. They were both staring at the girl wide eyed and confused. She seemed so familiar, and she was staring at me as if willing me to realize something

After her speech, the woman named Hannah walked into the arena and faced the man. He glared down at her and smiled, not the friendly smile, but the 'you don't belong here' kind of smile. "Go home little girl," he sneered, "I would hate to make you cry."

Hannah calmly took one of her shoes off and tossed it to the side. "Not all girls cry," she said simply, "in fact, I do recall my brothers crying more than me."

She took off her other shoe and threw it at him. The man caught and his smile became even larger as if trying to surpass a laugh. "Is that suppose to frighten me, little girl? Am I suppose to run into the crowd in retreat?"

He hurled her shoe back to her, Hannah caught and then she tossed it next to the other one. She flicked her hair back and pulled it back into a pony-tail. "Actually yes," she said tying her hair back, she finished and looked him squarely in the eye, "I was hoping you would."

The man laughed and the crowd joined in. "Did you think that shoes would scare me?" he said, Hannah didn't reply, she stood there firmly not backing down, "Well in fact it did not, it will take more than that to get me to give up a fight," he then turned to the crowd, "do you think I should give this little girl a chance and let her back away before I totally demolish her?" The crowd cheered, I guess it was a 'yes'. The man turned back to Hannah, "Last chance, little girl, run away, go home. I would hate to bust up a pretty face like yours."

Hannah looked at him, "Scared are you? You just want me to go so that you won't have to worry about getting your butt whooped. Right?"

The crowd was hushed. I could sense everybody peering at the man. I just thinking, _how can this possibly get worse_. But of course, the Fates where against me on this one, it did. The pressed his lips together and then forced a toothless grin. "If you insists, little girl," he said walking closer to her. He stopped when the were close together, one of them could reach out and touch the other. "Of course," the man continued, "what kind of gentlemen would I be if I didn't insists that ladies go first," he turned to crowd, "what do you think boys? Should we give her the first opportunity, just, you know, to make it fair." The crowd roared with approval. The man spun back to Hannah and opened his arms up, "Go ahead, hit me."

Hannah yawned and stretched. Then she focused her eyes on him. I didn't know why she was playing games with him. I just wanted this fight to be over a done with. "Actually," she said, "that's not what I had in mind." She bowed sarcastically at him, "Lady yielding in favor of the gentleman." This time the room filled up with timid laughter.

The man growled, obviously annoyed at her. He pulled his arm back, exposing his mid-section, that would've been a perfect place to attack. She had to attack then, I thought it was her only chance. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Silena place her hands in front of her eyes, I didn't blame her, after all, what was about to happen was a girl that resembled her was about to get beaten to a pulp by a big brawny man. His hand made a huge fist and then with immense force he pushed it towards Hannah. I heard the whole audience inhale a sharp breath of surprise. She had dodged the first blow.

The man was stunned. But before he could do anything else Hannah nailed her small fist on his jaw. A crack sounded and the crowd gasped. She had just broken one of his bones. The man staggered back clutching his face. Hannah smiled. "Done yet?" she asked.

The man just let out a grunt and lunged at her, she side stepped out of the way and he went tumbling past. The crowd laughed. He turned around, his teeth were painted in blood. He then got up and started swinging punches at the girl.

Hannah simply either dodged or blocked every single one of them. But he was advancing on her, I hoped that she wasn't getting tired. I silently prayed to my father that he would help her win this fight- you know like maybe give her his blessing or something. But instead I heard his voice inside my head, _she's going to be fine Clarisse, just watch and learn._

The man finally gave up on punching and he lunged forward tackling Hannah to the ground. Silena next to me gave out a slight whimper, I too was holding my breath.

"Finished now little girl," the man said.

Hannah smiled up at him. "Not quite." Before he could respond her legs pressed into his abdomen flipping him over her.

Hannah quickly jumped to her feet. The man slowly got up. Right then he said the most cheesiest lines in the history of lines. "Alright little girlie, no more mister nice guy."

Hannah clenched her fists and held them up. "I never wanted him."

The man came after with a punch. Hannah dodged and pounded her fists into his ribs. The man let out a "oof" sound. But before he could recover another punch hit him in the temple and then a kick across the mouth sent him spinning to the ground.

The whole fell silent. Astonished stares followed the girl named Hannah as she went to retrieve her shoes. Against all odds, she had won. That was the fact.


End file.
